1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for analysis of blood samples in general, and apparatus and methods for detecting, identifying, and enumerating constituents, such as cells or particulates, within the sample in particular.
2. Background Information
Physicians, veterinarians and scientists have examined human and animals' biologic fluids, especially blood, in order to determine constituent quantities as well as to identify the presence of unusual constituents not seen in healthy subjects. The constituents generally measured, quantified and identified include red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets. RBC analyses can include determinations of RBC number, size, volume, shape, hemoglobin content and concentration, and the hematocrit (also referred to as the packed cell volume). RBC analyses can also involve determining the presence and/or concentration of certain components within the red cells such as DNA, RNA, including the detection of the presence and/or enumeration of hematoparasites (e.g., malarial parasites) either in the RBCs or trypanosomes which are extracellular or leishmaniasis organisms which are in the WBCs as well as many other hematoparasites. WBC analyses can include a determination of the population frequency of WBC sub-types generally referred to as a differential WBC count, as well as the notification of any unusual cell types not found in healthy subjects. Platelet (or in certain animals including birds, reptiles and fish, thrombocytes which are similar in function to platelets in mammals but are about ten times larger and nucleated) analyses can include platelet number, size, shape texture, and volume determinations, including determining the presence of clumps of platelets or thrombocytes within the sample.
Known blood examination techniques, described in detail medical texts such as Wintrobe's Clinical Hematology 12th Edition, generally divides the examination methods into manual, centrifugal, and impedance type methods. Manual methods typically involve the creation of an accurately determined volume of a blood or fluid sample that is quantitatively diluted and visually counted in a counting chamber. Manual examination methods include examining a peripheral smear where the relative amounts of the particulate types are determined by visual inspection. Centrifugal examination methods involve centrifuging the sample, causing the sample to separate into constituent layers according to the relative densities of the constituents. The component layers can be stained to enhance visibility or detection. Impedance methods involve the examination of an accurate volume of blood which is treated according to the particulate being measured; e.g., lysing RBCs for enumeration of the nucleated cells and volumetrically diluting the sample in a conductive fluid. The process typically involves monitoring a current or voltage applied to sample passing through a narrow passage to determine the effect particles have on the current/voltage as the particles pass through in single file. Other techniques involve analyzing the intensity and angle of scatter of light incident to particulates passing single file through a light beam. Flow cytometric methods can also be used that involve staining particulates of interest in suspension with fluorophores attached to antibodies directed against surface epitopes present on cell or particle types, exciting the stained particulates with light of appropriate wavelengths, and analyzing the emission of the individual particulates/cells.
All of the aforementioned methods, other than the peripheral smear or centrifugal separation, require dispensing a precise volume of sample. Inaccuracies in the sample volume will result in quantitative errors of the same magnitude in the associated analysis. With the exception of centrifugal methods, all of the aforementioned methods also require the sample to be mixed with one or more liquid reagents or diluents, and also require calibration of the instrument to obtain accurate results. In the case of peripheral smears, a high degree of training is needed to properly examine the smear. A number of the aforementioned methods generate large volumes of contaminated waste which is expensive to handle. Additionally, the above-described methods are not suitable to determine the complete blood count (CBC) in birds, reptiles, fish where the red blood cells and thrombocytes are nucleated and in certain mammals where the red blood cells size is very small and may be confused with platelets.
The amount of information that can be determined by examining the blood of a human or animal is vast. It is particularly useful to determine the indices of RBCs; e.g., individual cell size, individual cell hemoglobin content and concentration, and population statistics of RBCs within a sample. The mean and dispersion statistics (e.g., coefficients of variation) for each of the aforementioned parameters can also provide important information, as is evidenced by their discussion within the above-referenced text by Wintrobe, which has enabled physicians to better categorize disorders of RBCs.